Originally, I thought it was just one of those days

This morning, I was thinking about yesterday and complaining to the Lord about it 'cuz it was "JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS". You know the type - things don't go well, people say things that irritate you, you wish you could stay in bed all day - one of those kinds. So, I was complaining to the Lord about it. And I could pretty much immediately sense the Lord questioning my assessment of the situation. And so, together we began to rehash the events of this "not good day".
Here is how my actual day went...
I got up had a great quiet time. The topic was - Trusting the Lord in all situations and allowing Him to work in any way and in any situation, as He desires to work.
Next, I went to Bible study. We had a great time, awesome conversation and one of the ladies is continuing to open her heart more and more the Lord. (I thought, OK Lord, the morning was pretty good. You made Your point, but the rest of the day was not!)
So, next I went home had lunch and then headed out to meet with a different friend. We are also doing a Bible study of sorts but I'm doing all the reading and it's reading the Chinese Bible and then we discuss. This is helping me with my reading ability and we have good Bible discussions. (OK Lord, other than I'd like to be able to read Chinese better than I do. This too was pretty good)
Then I headed out on my motorcycle IN THE RAIN and got all wet on the way to check on another friend at her shop. I was going to buy a few things from her, of which she had none of the stuff I wanted. But I did still have a good time talking with her and hearing how she's been doing. (OK Father this was good too - other than the RAIN)
By now it's after 6pm so I head home. I get home and get something to eat, put the dishes away, etc... Later the Chinese lady living at my house comes out of her room and so I go see how she's been. She's been having a rough time. So, we talk about this for a little while. Then she began saying some things, things that by this culture are considered normal, but by American culture are considered rude and in no way normal. What she said isn't the point, it's a cultural thing. I've lived here long enough to know that, but at times it still wears on you. (I don't like the way many of the people here sometimes talk to each other and their kids and I try to counter things they say, as much as I can. Cultural or not, there is nothing uplifting about it.) Anyway, I listened to her for a little while and then changed the subject back to what's been going on with her.
Then I went to my room -- irritated. I sat in my room and fussed to the Lord for a while and then busied myself with other things.
That night, I couldn't sleep. My mind wouldn't shut down and so I woke up this morning tired and began complaining to the Lord again. But instead of going to Him with "Those things said last night really frustrated and bothered me" it turned into "yesterday, was just one of those days!"

So, why am I writing this? Well, I just thought I'd remind you guys - DON'T DO WHAT I DID! If something bothers, frustrates, irritates you - go to Father first. Eph. 4:26-27 says, "Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry and don't give the devil a foothold". My lack of sleep last night was because I didn't go to the Lord and work through this first, I gave the enemy a foothold. Instead I let my mind go wild, didn't sleep, let the enemy turn a small mole hill into a mountain, and I'm tired today! When all I needed to do was go to Father and say, "Can we talk about this?" And then pour out to Him and listen to His response to me.

Well, now I've done that and I'm feeling much better. And I've realized, yesterday wasn't "one of those days" after all, it was actually a pretty good day. The only thing that could have made it better is if I'd ended it sitting with Jesus pouring out my heart and hearing His. BUT it's never too late! I'm so glad we serve such a merciful, gentle Father. Aren't you? He is so sweet and He expounds the boundaries of our cultures.

Father help to live within the boundaries of Your culture at all times!

Blessed by a Visit

My sister and brother-in-law came for a 10 day visit. We had such an awesome time. We drove completely around the Island of Taiwan. Went to the ocean, the mountains, Taroko Gorge, Taipei and all around Taichung. They got to eat a home cooked meal, thanks to Rongro (man, can she cook). Many of my friends took them out to eat. They did great with the food, even with things most Americans find extremely unappetizing such as - deep fried intestines. They wimped out when it came to stinky tofu though, I can't imagine why!?

We laughed until we cried talking about silly family stories. Like the time my nephew and niece decided to see if water thrown outside would really freeze. They threw it on the front porch and when their mom and dad returned from the grocery store - it had indeed frozen. Their dad ended up flat on his back and the groceries ended up all over the place. Granted at the time, their father didn't find this scene to be funny, now however, we laughed and laughed. Or how when we were young our father had the magical ability to speak Chinese whenever he hit his finger with a hammer (of course now that I speak Chinese, I know he was fibbing). We laughed until our sides hurt remembering many silly things such as these.

Their visit flew by with lightening speed but it was such a blessing to be able to share life in Taiwan with them, to get to hear first hand how things are going back home in the States, to already begin making some plans for my next trip back (granted it's over a year away but we had fun making plans anyway) and to reminisce and laugh about the past.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of family and visitors.